It is conventional to conduct studies of the interrelationships between two or more cell types grown in the same culture dish or between two regions of the same cell type that have been differentially treated, e.g., by over expression of a gene in one region only. Pijnappels et al. describe physically disrupting an existing monolayer of one cell type and then adding a second layer of another cell type over the disrupted area. Pijnappels et al., “Progressive Increase in Conduction Velocity Across Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Is Mediated by Electrical Coupling,” Cardiovasc Research (2006), doi:10.1016/j.cardiores.2006.07.016.
There is believed to be a need for device and method for studying the interrelationships between two or more cell types grown in the same culture dish or between two regions of the same cell type that have been differentially treated without physically disrupting the cells.